Markus Maurer wrote:
Hi Christian
That's interesting, thanks for the test. Must have been a heavy lens/flash
combo to carry...
Weight is really never an issue for me. Except for getting to a
location, the lens is on a tripod, and I'll gladly deal with extra
weight if it gives me an advantage in image quality.
It's really a pretty bird. If you mount your Canon combo on a Pentax, you
can participate in the
"crappy lens competition" as well - only joking ;-)
hahaha I'm actually working on mounting Pentax lenses on my Canon
body... shhhh don't tell cotty.
I tried to get some bird photos today but after more than 2 hours walk I
returned with only 3 photos ;-)
That's not bad! I was out for about an hour and a half for my field
experiment and besides freezing my ass off I got nothing I'd consider good.
I really have to forget using the mirror lens in the forest, it is simply
too dark for a F8 lens without a
huge flash + extender.
I only started using flash for bird shots last September. flash is not
a required item. I only lament at slow lenses (or lenses made slow with
TCs) because it is dark in the viewfinder to focus. I usually try to
stop down as much as possible to get as much depth of field as possible.
I seems to me that birds are most active in the
morning and later in the evening, when the light is again nearly
insufficient for such a slow lens?
The number one rule of nature photography. Mornings and late afternoons
are best. Not only are the birds more active, the light is much better.
So it is really a challenge to get some
good shots without a professional
flash.
most of the shots on my website were done without flash. I'm no pro,
but I know that flash is not required. It DOES help in some situations
and is an asset but it is not needed in ALL shots. My flash is is the
relatively inexpensive Sigma EX500DG.
--
Christian
http://photography.skofteland.net
